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Chapter 345 - 345. Released From Prison
Chapter 345. Released From Prison
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"???"
Looking at the line of gray text above, and then at the new message he had just sent—for no reason, there was an exclamation mark at the end. Senju Hashirama and Senju Tobirama immediately frowned.
"Eh? Is it broken? How do we fix it? Should I try slapping the computer?"
"Idiot big brother, it's still working, right? Based on the information I've gathered, this probably means... no signal?"
"The End of the Ninja World?"
"Stop looking at these messy messages! But looking at it this way... it doesn't seem like just a no-signal issue." Senju Tobirama frowned, crossed his arms, and turned his head to stare at Orochimaru nearby. "You did this, didn't you? Deliberately preventing us from contacting Tsunade! As expected... there's nothing good to say to you!"
"Second Hokage-sama, you misunderstand~ I didn't do anything at all!" Orochimaru smiled, licking his lips. "If I really intended that, I would've just refused from the beginning!"
Facing the Second Hokage's sharp and cautious gaze, he said, "Please wait a moment, let me take a look first!"
As the words fell, under the Second Hokage's watchful eyes, he leaned in and looked at the message on the screen.
Sure enough.
Without seeing in person, there was no way Tsunade would believe it.
He then gave a soft, sinister smile and slightly nodded. "So that's how it is."
"Is it broken?" Hashirama quickly asked Orochimaru. "This thing looked really interesting. I heard you can play games and watch movies on it. I didn't expect it to break so easily!"
What a pity.
He still wanted to contact Tsunade and ask about her situation.
However—
"No~" Orochimaru smiled and shook his head, grinning at the First Hokage. "It's just that First Hokage-sama, you've been blocked!"
"???"
Blocked?!
"Idiot, being blocked means the messages you send can't be received by her." Senju Tobirama, who had gathered a bunch of information, looked at his confused big brother and then at the screen, his face serious as he said, "So this is what they call a blacklist? No wonder the messages can't be sent."
It's just that—Hashirama still looked completely confused. "Huh? Why can't Tsunade receive it? Didn't I send it?"
"But she rejected it!"
"Why did she reject it?!" As the words fell, Orochimaru licked his lips and said with a grin, "Maybe she thinks the First Hokage-sama is a scammer~ There are too many scam messages floating around online these days, tons of scammers! First Hokage-sama, you should take a break too~"
"But... I already said I'm the First Hokage. Could anyone really pretend to be the First Hokage?"
"That's not surprising!" Orochimaru shook his head indifferently. "After all, the First and Second Hokage-sama have already passed away. Suddenly someone sends Tsunade a message claiming to be the First Hokage—how could she believe it? I heard that a few years ago someone even messaged the Uchiha clan members claiming they were Uchiha Madara!"
However. As soon as he said that—
"Hahaha~ I didn't expect someone actually pretended to be Madara?" Hashirama burst into laughter. "If Madara found out, it would definitely be hilarious!"
"Idiot big brother! Is this the time to be laughing about that?" Tobirama looked helplessly at his brother, shaking his head, then stared again at Orochimaru. "It looks like... you knew this would happen from the beginning!"
No wonder he didn't let them call or meet Tsunade in person. As long as it wasn't face-to-face... that girl Tsunade would never believe it!
"I didn't expect the little monkey to have such a clever student! What a good plan~"
"Second Hokage-sama, you're overthinking it!" Orochimaru still didn't mind, smiling as he locked eyes with Tobirama, as if he hadn't planned any of this, then looked at Hashirama typing away at the keyboard, seemingly watching something. "Now then... the request you made, I've already fulfilled it! First Hokage-sama, Second Hokage-sama... time to go back to work!"
"Huh? That's it?" Hashirama lifted his head and looked at Orochimaru. "That fast? I still wanted to see more. I saw something called an amusement park just now — it looked really fun. Can't you let me play a bit longer?"
"Idiot! We've been tricked!"
"But I really want to play~"
"He's definitely not going to agree!"
While Tobirama was holding his forehead, utterly embarrassed by his brother's behavior—
Suddenly—
"You can~" Orochimaru's voice rang out again.
The two of them stared at him blankly, and then Tobirama's eyes narrowed as he stared at Orochimaru coldly. "What are you up to?"
"Nothing! Nothing! Please don't worry, Second Hokage-sama!" Orochimaru shook his head, still smiling and licking his lips. "I just want to ask for a little favor!"
As the words fell, a dangerous look appeared on Tobirama's face as he stared directly at him. "I knew it! You didn't summon us just to make us work!" After a slight pause, "What exactly is your goal? Summoning me and big brother... are you trying to bring war to the Ninja World?"
"I said it's not about fighting and killing~" Orochimaru still didn't care, maintaining the same smile. "I just... want your help with some research!"
"Hmph! A warmonger like you—you think I'll believe your goal is that simple?"
"I can't help it; the offer from the other side was just too much!"
"..."
What the hell is this guy talking about?!
"Relax, these are all legal experiments~ Although I can control your actions, I can't control your thoughts!" Orochimaru smiled while licking his tongue. "So, I hope Second Hokage-sama can lend a hand! As long as you agree, I can let First Hokage-sama go online for one hour every day, and if we manage to research something, you could even make a phone call to Tsunade~"
Speaking up to this point, with a tempting tone, he smiled at Senju Hashirama. "First Hokage-sama, have you thought it over? Of course, if you refuse, it's fine too—it'll just take me a little longer!"
As the words fell, he turned his head to look at Senju Tobirama. At this moment, upon hearing this, Hashirama—since it didn't sound like some strange experiment—also looked expectantly at Tobirama.
"Tobirama~"
"..."
Tobirama's face immediately darkened. "You idiot! You can't trust a word from this guy!"
"But..." Hashirama scratched his head and said with a chuckle, "I still really want to chat with Tsunade for a bit. After all..." he paused slightly, "Tsunade... she must be really hoping to hear our voices!"
As those words fell—
"..."
Big brother...
Tobirama fell silent, looking at his big brother, whose face showed a kind and gentle smile. His heart trembled slightly.
He thought back to when their father died, and his big brother alone bore the burden of supporting the Senju Clan, and how, to end the constant wars, he created the village system. All the way until... he fell out with his closest friend, got gravely wounded... and died amidst self-blame and helplessness. And now, he was still worrying about Tsunade. 𝑛𝘰𝑣𝘱𝑢𝑏.𝘤𝑜𝘮
Big brother had lived such a hard life~
In the end, Tobirama sighed helplessly. "Fine, I get it!" He then stared at Orochimaru. "I'll agree to your request. But if I find out you're doing anything that harms Konoha or the Ninja World—don't blame me..." A terrifying chakra surged forth. "For killing you!"
"Of course~" Orochimaru smiled and nodded, extending his hand. "Happy cooperation!"
It looked like— Maybe the research could speed up a bit!
He was still very curious... about the Uchiha's abilities!
...
Meanwhile, on the other side, this was the Land of Rain.
"Sunagakure, Sasori of the Red Sand... thank you for your contribution to the Land of Rain's prison. Now, congratulations, you're released!"
"..." Sasori walked out with an expressionless face. Thinking about the prison guard's words just now, he really wanted to punch that guy hard.
But now, he was released!
He actually got out of the prison!
What exactly was the Land of Rain doing?
Seeing the unfamiliar scenery in front of him, he finally believed... he really had been let out. A cold laugh escaped from him. "Hmph! Interesting! Aren't they afraid I'll take revenge?"
Of course, to be honest, after being inside for so long, his heart had calmed down. As for so-called revenge... he wasn't thinking about it anymore.
Now that he was released...
There was instead a sense of confusion about what he should do next!
He sighed, holding in his right hand the belongings that had been confiscated when he was imprisoned. Feeling the familiar weight, he hadn't expected to see them again.
Shaking his head, he began to walk forward.
He wandered aimlessly forward, forward, alone, in the Land of Rain.
Now he truly didn't know what to do anymore!
He didn't know how much time passed.
Suddenly, everything opened up!
There were more pedestrians ahead, and the surroundings became lively.
However, the iron shells moving along the road... were these the "cars" that Konan had talked about back then?
And the little boxes people were holding in their hands... what were those?
The Ninja World...
Has it changed this much?
Wide roads, people coming and going. But, why were so many people gathered here, not moving? Looking ahead... they seemed to be preparing to cross to the other side, but for some reason everyone had stopped here.
Sasori frowned and stood still for a few seconds too.
He really had no idea where he wanted to go now.
After pondering for a bit and sighing inwardly, he decided not to care about the stopped pedestrians and walked straight across to the other side!
Might as well just walk and see!
However, at that moment, suddenly, from the left came an urgent honking sound!
Beep Beep! Beep Beep Beep!
An iron box rushed toward him at high speed!
"Mom, that uncle is crossing a red light!"
